Babies + Blankets

*Note from McKenna: If there's ever a good reason to fall off the face of the blogosphere, it's faces like this! Our baby girl, Charlie, was born on Mar 31st and we have been eating up every moment with her. Mandy and my Dad were just out visiting for her blessing which was such a wonderful time. Happy to be back to documenting on this here blog though and grateful for everyone who reads!

This post has been weeks in the making and there has just been so much going on in life. A few weeks back I had one incredibly rough chemo week and those weeks are just awful- but that's ok! For every hard week there's a tender moment, like spending time with my Dane in bed while I was just so sick and shaking I couldn't possibly get up.
When we're not consumed by cancer or chemo we take every opportunity to be on the boat and I just couldn't have dreamed of a better time for us to come back into the boat life. It's so easy to put things off and decide not to do big things when your health is a big fat question mark, but I'm glad that we haven't done that. Don't wait! Live life and do the things in your power to remind yourself that life is sweet.

In case you don't know me well, here's something about me: as far as typical 'talent' goes, I don't have much. I don't sing or play an instrument, I don't bake or sew or do things worthy of much note. But one thing about me that I would possibly consider a talent is surrounding myself with people who do do incredible things. My friend Tiffany and her daughter, Hannah are the owners and operators of a blog and crochet business called Daisy Farm Crafts and they are fabulous! When I first started doing treatments Tiffany made me my beautiful blue heart blanket that kept me warm and comfortable during a time of a lot of physical discomfort and uncertainty. Tiffany has faced her own battle with cancer as well, finding out she had uterine cancer on the same day I shared that my colon cancer had returned. I'm so glad to say that she is healthy and in remission and killing it in the crochet business! I've bought several of her blankets for our grandkids to use, and she has promised that no matter what happens in the future my grandkids and the one's who've not yet arrived will always have a blanket from her. What an incredible gift.

Her daughter Annie is an inspiration to me and someone I grew close to when she was facing her own health struggles. When she was younger she struggled with having epileptic seizures that made it very difficult to do daily tasks. She had to have surgery on her brain and while she was recovering I'd go over to their house and play cards with her. Annie has grown up and gone on to receiving scholarships through golf and is flourishing. Such an example to me of persevering through adversity! Their family has a special place in my heart.

Scott and I are currently driving to meet with a Dr. Patel at UCSD to talk about a clinical trial that involves stem cells and immunotherapy. Stem cells are such an incredible innovation in the medical world right now, providing answers to diseases like macular degeneration (causing blindness) and so many other things that were previously given no options. Scott suffered from pain in his foot cause by a motorcycle accident as a teenager, and injecting stem cells into his foot resulted in miraculous results for his pain. But, as always with cancer, the road is not straight and I have to weigh out this treatment and its requirements against my current treatment. Do I have to move to San Diego for the treatment? Will it rule out other forms of treatment that have previously been successful? I would love a clear yes/no answer for once but that is not the nature of the cancer beast. But we are confident, and as always- we move forward.

As we drive to CA today, on Memorial Day, my thoughts turn to our kids, my son who served in the military and is now a police officer, our grandkids, my parents and all the people who've touched our lives and protected us through their service. Memorial Day is about legacy and serving each other as a people and a community. I'm glad to share just a tiny bit of my legacy with you through these words we write and this journey I'm on, thanks so much for walking it with me.

xo

Mandy